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GoldfishSanc   

The Goldfish Sanctuary

Finrot (aka Tailrot)

Symptoms: ragged fins, white 'edge' on fins

Most common in the fancy varieties of goldfish, finrot can occur as a result of an injury, as a secondary infection once the fish has been weakened by another disease, or in some cases, as a primary infection (bacterial).

Finrot can be the result of a bacterial infection (which causes a more ragged rotting), or as a fungal infection (which rots the tail more evenly and is more likely to produce a white 'edge'). Sometimes, both types of infection are seen together. Infection is commonly brought on by bad water conditions, injury, poor diet, or outwintering fancy goldfish (who should live in warmer temperatures).

Finrot starts at the edge of the fins, and destroys more and more tissue until it reaches the fin base. If it does reach the fin base, the fish will never be able to regenerate the lost tissue. At this point, the disease may attack the fish's body directly.

remedy:
The first thing to do is to contact your vet or petstore for further instruction - treatment is not recommended without expert supervision as treatment may involve taking the fish out of water and treating the infection directly with a chemical solution (such as Mercurochrome). In this case, care must be taken to return the fish to water quickly, as it can only survive for two minutes or so out of water. Also, care must be taken to keep the medication from running into a fish's eyes or gills. General medications are also available. Although it is usually possible to return the fish to the main tank after swabbing the infected area, it is perhaps most advisable to move your sick goldfish to a quarantine tank during recovery, and for possible further treatments.

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